London is a city of firsts—so it’s no surprise to see a new gallery open in the capital dedicated to both contemporary indigenous North American and European art. And there's another noteworthy aspect: The Baldwin Gallery, located in Blackheath, is based in a house owned by the gallery founder and creative director, Dennison Smith. “Smith was inspired by living with the Navajo tribe and their understanding of art as who you are, where you live, and not as mere commodity; this lead her to use her elegant home, located in London’s Blackheath, as the gallery’s main location,” a press statement says. The launch show, Mobile Forms: Parisian Abstraction to Amerindian Pop (until 4 December), pairs Alexandra Roussopoulos’s curvilinear canvases and skin-like geometric pieces with sculptures and lithographs by experimental Kwakwaka'wakw, Heiltsuk and Haida artists from the Canadian Pacific Coast. Shows scheduled for 2017 include Art is Home: The Sublunary World, featuring works by UK artist Tim Shaw and Meryl McMaster, who is of Cree heritage.
